The Ultimate Pruning Guide for Your Gorgeous Garden

Pruning is an essential part of caring for a healthy, gorgeous garden. The act of trimming down and cutting plants helps to maintain their shapes, remove dead parts, encourage new growth and fight off disease. However, all of the plants in your garden come with different pruning requirements and it’s important to understand them to ensure that every part of your outdoor space can thrive.
This guide will dig into a range of different pruning techniques for a few specific species of plants, hopefully giving you the principles with which to approach other similar plants.
How to prune roses
If you’re wondering how to prune climbing roses or the potted variety – the universal flower of love – it’s important to note that pruning shouldn’t start until after the plants are properly bloomed in late winter. Also, roses are covered in thorns, so remember to wear your gloves! When making cuts, don’t go any higher than 5mm above buds and make sure that the cuts are super clean, sloping downwards away from buds – this will prevent water collection.
Some extra tips include:
- Only cut around a third of the plant at once
- Avoid thicker stems that may not grow back
- Generally aim to trim back the oldest looking stems/parts
How to prune hydrangeas
Pruning hydrangeas can also be stacked with deadheading – the act of removing dead or dying blooms from the plant. In the case of the latter, dead flowerheads should be removed at the stem until just before the first healthy buds are visible. In terms of pruning, older stems can be cut back at the base to inspire new growth.
Additional tips include:
- Completely clearing scraggly, spanning stems
- Different hydrangeas have different requirements so research your specifically
- If you want to start from scratch, you can prune the entire plant
How to prune lavender
Lavender is ready to be pruned around the end of summer when it’s fully finished blooming, with spring pruning to remove frost damage also welcome. If you’re truly looking to thin lavender down, you can trim anywhere between one third to around a half of its height to tidy it up.
Extra techniques include:
- Regular deadheading throughout summer – flowerheads grow back consistently
- Never cut into the woody, thick part of the plant – it won’t grow back
- Always leave some healthy green parts to ensure regrowth
How to prune an olive tree
Olive trees are a gorgeous Mediterranean addition to gardens and patios alike, being ready for the pruning of dead branches by spring. Experts argue olive trees should be shaped like wine glasses with 3-4 main branches extending from the trunk. Removing central or outer branches will inspire more lateral or vertical growth respectively.
Other important considerations to remember include:
- Cut thicker branches from the bottom, then top, pull away and finish the cut
- Pruning can also inspire better fruit production
- Remove any water shoots or suckers from the base to maintain main tree strength
How to prune an apple tree
Apple trees should be pruned in winter while dormant to inspire a stronger spring, while summer pruning limits vigor and encourages fruit production. Apple tree pruning should be focused on dead, damaged and diseased branches, only trimming back 10-20% of the tree’s canopy.
The specific tips to consider include:
- Burn or dispose of prunings – they’re not suitable for composting
- Create an open, goblet-shaped tree with your pruning
- Make slanted cuts away from buds to prevent water pooling
Don’t be a pruning prude!
Of course, after spending so much time growing new plants it can be scary to prune your garden. However, as long as you approach it with the right amount of focus and specificity, pruning is absolutely nothing to be afraid of. It will maintain your garden to be healthier than ever, so don’t ignore it!